


I Still Choose You

by SelfTitledWorldWonder



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Rumbelle - Freeform, background Snowing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 11:25:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13234683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SelfTitledWorldWonder/pseuds/SelfTitledWorldWonder
Summary: Snow is shocked when her friend Belle appears, searching desperately for the prisoner she has locked in her basement.  She is even more shocked to discover that said prisoner, The Dark One, often perceived as the most evil creature in the lands, has fallen deeply and truly in love.





	I Still Choose You

They’d had Rumplestiltskin locked up for nigh a year and no one had ever come to see him. Until that night. She was beautiful; bright blue eyes, long, curly brunette hair, pale face with rosy cheeks. Exactly what you wouldn’t expect from the Dark One’s true love. Of course, no one knew that that was who she was at the time. She’d simply barged into the castle with as much grace as a swan and as much determination as she could muster, calling out for her old friend Snow White, aware that it was her who had trapped her true love underground.

“Snow,” she said, a desperate, pleading note in her voice. “I must see Rumplestiltskin.”

“Belle? What’s going on? Whatever trouble you’re in, we can help, you don’t need to go to him.” Snow had seen many a desperate soul - including herself - go to Rumplestiltskin in their time of need only to end up worse off than before.

“No, you don’t understand-” Belle began her attempt to explain that she wasn’t in trouble; in fact, she’d just gotten out of it, her escape from Regina’s clutches being as miraculous as the Dark One having a true love, but Snow was having none of it and unintentionally interrupted her childhood friend.

“Belle, he  _kidnapped_ you. No one’s seen you since, everyone thinks that you're  _dead_ , you must speak to your father.” Oh, Snow, bless her heart, she was trying her best but she just didn't  _understand_. And how could she? She hadn’t been there when the seemingly evil Rumplestiltskin had caught Belle, saving her from at the very least, broken bones, and at the worst, death. She hadn’t been there when he’d bowed playfully, a teasing glint in his eye after giving her the most beautiful rose she’d ever seen. She hadn’t been there when he’d started to change, to  _transform_ , right before Belle’s eyes, the power of true love’s kiss working for just a second before he’d lost faith in her.

_She hadn’t been there when the beauty and the beast had fallen in love._

This thought on her mind, Belle simply stared into Snow’s dark eyes, hoping that she’d see how much her friend needed to see the prisoner. And, making Belle thank any deity she could think of, Snow nodded and began leading the younger brunette down the hall.

It wasn’t long before they came across Snow’s Prince Charming, who also tried to convince the princess-turned-servant that whatever she was looking for from Rumplestiltskin she could find from them, but with a knowing smile she disagrees.

“Please, James, I just have to see him. I was with him for a long time, I know him better than any other; please just take me to him.”

And so, when the prince saw nothing but pleading and sincerity in Belle’s eyes, he joined his wife and the beautiful brunette in the surprisingly tight pants and knee-high boots as they made their way down the steps to the dungeon in which the Dark One was held.

Upon reaching the end of the staircase, the three royals came across one of the two guards assigned to staying outside Rumplestiltskin’s dungeon at all times.

“I’m afraid you can’t be dow- Your Majesties?” The guard interrupted himself when he realised who it was in front of him. “You cannot allow him to know that you are here, what is going on?” Though he was respectful, the guard was obviously confused and was close to escorting them right back up the stairs.

After having the situation explained to him - not very well described, mind, as neither Snow nor James knew the full extent of it - the guard shook his head. “I still don’t like it, but if you insist… Then it is your decision, but  _I_ must insist something also.”

Belle rolled her eyes as they walked down a dark, cave-like hallway. The guard had forced them all into long, black cloaks with hoods pulled so far down to cover their faces that she could barely see a thing. If you asked her, it was a pure miracle that she hadn’t tripped over something or walked into a wall.

“Rumplestiltskin!” The guard’s yell was so sudden it made Belle jump, and she almost felt the need to tut at him and give a reminder that they were inside â€“ he needn’t shout. The noise, however, didn’t seem to startle the powerful prisoner, as his strange coloured head popped down from above, the rest of his body still hidden at the top of his cell.

“Ah, visitors! How nice! Been a long time since I’ve had a good chit-chat with somebody.” The imp’s voice was playfully sarcastic as he slowly ran his gaze over the four cloaked figures, the guard being the only one whose face was revealed. “Surprise visitors - even better! Am I supposed to guess?”

“Speak,” the guard instructed the cloak that hid Belle, who was both excited and nervous to see her love, as well as a little affronted at the guard’s ordering tone. “But do not tell him your name; it gives him power over you. And he will use it against you.”

“You never were a people person, were you, Rumple?” Belle grinned, she hadn’t pulled down her hood, but she glanced up just in time to see the great and powerful Rumplestiltskin the Dark One - the most feared being in all the lands - fall down, barely managing to ungracefully land crouched on his feet.

“Who are you?!” He ran forward, clutching his hands around the bars locking him in his cell. He’d recognise that beautiful accent anywhere, but  _it couldn’t be. How could she possibly be here - alive, breathing?_  "Reveal yourself! Tell me your name!  _What is your name?“_

"Have you forgotten me so soon?” The soft, teasing lilt in her voice is emphasised by the growing smile on her face, revealed as she pulls down her hood. “I’m rather insulted.”

The guard moves to rush over to the brunette, intent on pulling her hood back up immediately, and Charming is all for it, but Snow puts out her arm, halting the men mid-step. Whilst they were focusing on what they believed to be foolish actions on Belle’s part, the raven-haired beauty was watching Rumplestiltskin's  _re_ actions. He was staring at the young woman like a blind man seeing the sun for the first time; he was looking at his former servant the way– Realisation dawned on Snow. He was looking at Belle the way she often caught Charming looking at her; as if she were the only good and important thing in the world.

_Rumplestiltskin was in love._

“No. You were– How can you be–?” Stunned and disbelieving, Rumplestiltskin stares, afraid that if he so much as blinks she’ll disappear and it will just be his mind playing tricks on him. Again.

Belle steps forward, seeming to forget the other people present until James yells out for her to stop, looking down at his own love, confused at her insistence that they stay out of it. However, this seems to do nothing to stop the brunette beauty as she reaches the bars, her eyes running over the Dark One’s strange features with reverence. “Oh, Rumple, I’ve missed you.”

These words seem to shock the prince and the guard enough that they stop fighting Snow’s orders, and instead stare at the pair in front of them, utterly bewildered.

“No, you can’t be– How–” Untrusting of his own eyes, Rumplestiltskin reaches out, brushing his hand up her arm to grip her shoulder. “You’re real. You’re alive. Oh, Belle - I’m so sorry. I–”

Cutting him off, Belle shook her head, happy tears glistening in her eyes as her hand reaches carefully through the spiked bars to cup his cheek adoringly. “No. Shh… It–it wasn’t your fault.” Shaking her head at his look, she promises to explain later. “I’ll tell you everything… But first,” Belle hesitates slightly but looks up into her former captor’s eyes, reverence and sincerity shining in her own as she declares “I love you.”

The look on the two watching men’s faces was something that Snow would remember for the rest of her life. It was a mixture of disbelief, confusion, and complete shock. In his desperation for some kind of explanation Charming turns to his wife, befuddled by the small, knowing, and slightly affectionate smile on her lips.

“Wha–” Snow puts up her hand to prevent him interrupting the unusual, but somehow still sweet, moment occurring in front of them. She motions for the two men to follow her as she makes her way back to the stairs. They comply, both looking back in bemusement at the pair who seem to be in their own world; embracing as much as is possible with magic-bound, sharply pointed bars separating them.

Rumplestiltskin’s acute hearing picks up on the quiet retreat of the Charmings and their guard, and he grins. “Apparently we know how to clear a room.”

“Well,” Belle begins, a teasing grin on her lips, “it’s not as if you aren’t an expert.”

A laugh escaping his lips, Rumplestiltskin finally admits something that he has felt for a long time. “I love you, Belle.”

Her head snaps up in shock and she looks into his eyes; seeing his words reflected there. Unable to stop herself, Belle leans up, getting as close as possible despite the bars, and he reciprocates. Their second kiss is just as sweet as their first, but is followed by quiet whisperings of adoration rather than disbelieving rage.

* * *

 

“I still don’t understand it,” Charming complains, shaking his head in incredulity. “I mean… _What?_  It just doesn’t make sense.”

The couple had sent the guard off for lunch and were currently stood outside the doors they had just stepped through from the stairs. It wasn’t a particularly smart decision in the guard’s opinion - Rumplestiltskin was a dangerous creature and they’d do well not to forget that - but it wasn’t his opinion that mattered, and if he were ordered to leave then he would do so.

“Well,” Snow begins, an affectionate smile blooming on her lips at her husband’s obliviousness. “It’s quite obvious how besotted they both are, don’t you think? And that’s all that matters really.” Grinning, the raven-haired beauty makes her way over to her husband, looking up at him with adoration shining in her eyes. “And it’s not like we can judge anybody; when we first met  _you_  were engaged, and  _I_  gave you a concussion.”

James had to concede to that point â€“ they really hadn’t met in the best of circumstances, although they looked back with fondness now. “Still…” Charming cringed; his thoughts moving from how Belle could have possibly fallen in love with the most evil being in the realm to how she could long to touch him, to kiss him, to– _No, I am not going there._

Snow’s thoughts were cleaner and a lot less disturbing to him. “I don’t think I’ve ever really heard him stutter before… Nor have I seen him so much as stumble before he fell from the ceiling.” Tilting her head, Snow seems thoughtful. “It’s rather cute, actually. He’s almost like an inexperienced teenager with a crush.”

Letting out a quick laugh, Charming agrees with a little sarcasm. “Yeah, well, it’s not exactly like he’s going to have women lining up - especially not if he’s been like… _that_  his whole life.”

“Well, if they make each other happy then that’s what is important so stop being so cynical.”

Snow leans up, pressing a soft kiss to her beloved’s lips; unaware that in the dungeons below the reunited lovers are in a similar embrace.

**Author's Note:**

> I do take requests, for both headcanons and imagines/oneshots over on my tumblr (daryldamnson), but it's fine if anyone wants to send them in here too.


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